


Creepy Christmas

by CordensAngels131



Category: Narry - Fandom
Genre: A little angst, BoyxBoy, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Harry gets the heebie jeebies, M/M, Narry - Freeform, Sex, Smut, mature - Freeform, narry storan - Freeform, they’re married
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:34:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27946868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CordensAngels131/pseuds/CordensAngels131
Summary: Niall convinces Harry to accept a house-sitting job at a lavish country estate for the holidays. They’ll spend evenings in front of a fire watching it snow. Sounds perfect right?  It’s all going well until some unwanted guests begin appearing and what little holiday spirit Harry had quickly vanishes. He’s ready to abandon this creepy old mansion and head back to London.
Relationships: Niall Horan/Harry Styles
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	Creepy Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [XoXoSoulShine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/XoXoSoulShine/gifts).



> This is a work of fiction intended for mature audiences. 18+ please
> 
> The idea for this story grew out of a conversation with XoXoSoulShine who was house-sitting in a home with a LOT of Christmas decorations. All credit goes to her. Happy Narrydays my grinchy queen!

“Just drop your bags there. I’ll show you to the guest room in just a mo,” Liam tells Harry and Niall as they follow him inside and wait til he shuts the creaky front door. “Really appreciate you agreeing to stay in the house over the holidays.”

“No worries, mate, happy to help out,” Niall assures him. Harry, though, isn’t as sure as Niall. Eager for a chance to escape the hustle and bustle of London during the holidays, Niall jumped at the chance to escape to the country when the agency called to see if they were available. They were supposed to be house sitting in a lush sky rise with a view of the city until after the New Year, but the agency called last week to say their clients had cancelled, apologizing profusely and sending along a large sum to make up for the fees they should’ve earned. They’d been offered this last-minute job at an estate north of London and Harry hadn’t had the heart to tell Niall no.

“C’mon Harry, we’ll go for long walks and sit by the fire. Plus, we’ll be much closer to your mum’s.” Harry could hardly argue with that and in the end agreed to go. They are popular with their wealthy clients and he’d hoped a better offer would come through, but nothing did. Fuck this fucking place, Harry thinks as he looks around the great room. A stone fireplace in the center of the room extends from floor to ceiling with large windows flanking either side. Bookcases lined the other two walls in the room with three separate seating areas. The mantle is adorned with large boughs of greenery, with gold and silver baubles peeking through. Trimmed with clear white lights, it looks as if it could make the cover of a glossy design magazine. A huge tree twinkles with lights in one corner and various other items decorate the large room. 

“Is that” Harry turns away from one of the windows to find Liam standing behind him.

“A hedge maze? Yes,” he smiles proudly. “We worked on it all summer, but it’s near perfect now. Have you ever been in one?”

“No,” Harry finally smiles. “I’ve always wanted to try it.”

“Harry’s a huge mystery buff. He loves all those whodunits. I prefer history myself,” Niall says, moving to stand beside Harry and wrapping an arm around his waist.

“There’s boots and plenty of winter gear in the mudroom off the kitchen. Explore the grounds while you’re here. It’s supposed to snow tonight, which means I need to get on the road. There’s plenty of food in the fridge and a decent takeaway in the village. Charge whatever you need to my account at the market, they’ve been told you’ll be shopping with them. Here are the keys, follow me and I’ll show you to your room.

They follow Liam down a long hallway to a door at the end. When he opens it, Harry’s jaw drops. It’s larger than the entire flat they would’ve been staying in. Maybe Niall was right about this country stuff.

When they registered with the agency a few years ago, Harry insisted they only make themselves available for jobs in the London area. Having grown up in a small village, he couldn’t wait to get out and loves the energy and excitement of the city. Word of mouth soon filled their engagement diary and while they still do a few jobs for the agency to fill in the occasional empty week, most of their clients now are return customers who booked straight with them.

“Blimey,” Harry hears Niall whisper as they take in the room.

“The ensuite is through there,” Liam points to a door on the right. “You can stow your things in the closet.”

They follow Liam back to the entry and Harry helps him carry his bags to his car. “I left the number for the plumber on the corkboard in the kitchen. If you have any troubles, give him a call. He knows the place backwards and forwards and he’ll come straight away.”

“We’ll take good care of your place, Liam, you can trust us,” Niall assures him.

“I trust you will. One last thing, the decorations were specially designed for the house, so I’d like to keep them in their places. Please don’t move them around.”

“Absolutely,” Harry agrees. “We’ll make sure everything is just as you’ve left it.”

“Happy Christmas gentlemen. I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.”

~~

Harry and Niall wave goodbye and watch their employer pull slowly down the drive.

“It’s cold as fuck out here. Let’s get inside and have a drink by that fireplace.”

“You don’t want to check out the maze?”

Harry looks up to the sky and shakes his head. “Snow will start soon, let’s save it for tomorrow. I don’t want to get stuck in that thing with dark coming on. Besides, I want to toss a blanket on the floor in front of that fire and do wicked things to you.”

“Do you ever think about anything else?” Niall laughs but Harry knows he’s secretly pleased that Harry can’t keep his hands off of him.

“Not when you’re around,” Harry says and grabs Niall’s hand. Leading him inside, Harry pulls Niall close as he pushes the door closed behind them. It creaks loudly and Harry pulls away from Niall. With all the money he spent on decorating this place for the holidays, you’d think he could fix that door.”

“It’s just a creak. Probably cause it’s cold or something,” Niall says, lips cold as they find Harry’s neck. He closes his eyes and lets his hands wander to Niall’s ass, squeezing tightly. Niall’s hips push into Harry’s and “fuck,” Harry moans. Niall’s fingers pull at the hem of Harry’s jumper and when he has it up and over Harry’s head, he works on the buttons to his shirt, pushing the collar aside to find a nipple taut from the cold. Harry’s eyes begin to close with pleasure when he sees it. A creepy little elf sitting on the bannister watching them.

“Niall,” Harry murmurs.

“Yes baby, you feel so good.”

Harry grabs Niall’s shoulders and stops him. “That thing wasn’t there when we came in, I’m sure of it.”

“Harry, don’t be daft, you think it moved on its own?” Niall laughs and pulls Harry toward the fireplace. “Stay right there, back in a hot minute.”

Harry watches as Niall races from the room. He returns moments later with two glasses of whiskey and a cozy duvet. “Now strip,” Niall says, handing Harry a glass. He takes a long sip of the warm liquid and begins to relax.

“We can lay in front of the fire and watch it snow,” Niall tells him, He pulls his jumper off and stands in front of Harry, arms wrapping around his waist. “I believe ya mentioned doing wicked things to me.”

Harry smiles and kisses his partner. “I did,” Harry grins, letting a hand, now warmed by the fire, slip beneath Niall’s t-shirt and slide over his muscular back. They place their drinks on the stone floor and lay on the duvet. The heat from the fireplace warms them as they kiss. Niall sighs when Harry begins to undress him, pulling the t-shirt over his head then popping the button on his jeans.

Rolling away from Niall, Harry tugs off his jeans and underpants then sits up on his knees, positioning himself between Niall’s legs. When Niall lifts his hips, Harry pulls his jeans off and tosses them aside. Kissing over Niall’s tummy, his tongue circles first the right nipple, then the left. “What do you fancy tonight?”

Niall rolls them over so they’re on their sides and drapes a leg over Harry’s hips. “You can have me first, then it’s my turn later,” he grins, and Harry feels the rough callouses on his fingertips skate across his bum.

“I want to watch you, please.” Niall strokes Harry’s hard cock a few times, coating it with lube he’d grabbed when he pulled the duvet off the bed. He straddles his legs, easing onto his cock. When Harry’s deep inside him, he leans forward, resting his palms on Harry’s chest and lifts his hips slowly.

“Fuck, baby,” Harry moans, grabbing Niall’s hips and pushing him back down. Niall slaps his hands away and rises again, very slowly. Harry grins and slaps Niall’s ass playfully. When Niall eases down again, dropping his head back with pleasure, Harry sits up, gently kissing and sucking at the base of his lover’s neck. Reaching between them, he begins stroking Niall’s cock. “You feel so good,”

“Don’t stop Harry,” Niall groans.

Harry continues to stroke, kissing along Niall’s neck. As he does, his eyes catch a glimpse of something behind him. “Fucking hell,” he gives a startled yelp and lets go of Niall.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“How many of those creepy things are there? I swear they’re following us,” Harry says and reaches behind Niall to push the doll off the table onto the sofa then throws a pillow on top of it.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“They’re fucking creepy, watching us like that,” he pouts.

Niall kisses him, “aww, baby, I won’t let them get you,” he says, beginning to move his hips again.

“Yeah?”

“Mmhmm,” Niall mumbles, wrapping his arms around Harry’s neck and squeezing his cock.

“Fuck me,” Harry grins.

“You like that?”

“Yeah,” Harry says, teeth finding Niall’s nipple and gently pulling. Harry grabs Niall’s ass, allowing his short fingernails to scrape over the smooth skin.

As Niall begins to move, Harry grips him, matching Niall’s pace until both of them are panting heavily.

“Harry,” Niall moans.

“That’s it baby, don’t stop.” Harry feels Niall’s body tense in preparation. He pulls Harry close, body arching as his orgasm spills from his cock over Harry’s hand. Harry concentrates on Niall, peppering him with kisses and holding him tightly. As Niall’s pace begins to slow, his walls once again squeeze around Harry’s cock and he pulls him close, whispering into his ear.

“Fill me up, Daddy.”

“Fuck!” Harry feels the pleasure wash through his body all the way to his toes. When he’s limp in Niall’s arms, both of them still as stones reveling in the afterglow of their love, he lays them down and wraps himself around Niall’s body. “You’re amazing.”

Niall kisses him, “so are you. Thank you for coming here. We just checked something off my bucket list.”

Harry leans away from Niall to look in his eyes. “Really?”

“Really, always wanted t’make love t’ya in front of a big fireplace like this.”

“Why didn’t ya tell me?”

“I dunno,” Niall says, pulling the duvet over them. “S’not been an option before now.”

“I would’ve made it an option if I’d known you wanted it.”

“There’s still more on m’list, don’t worry. We’ll check another off later.”

Harry laughs and pulls him close. “Look,” he nods toward the window to show Niall the snow that’s softly falling. They lay together in front of the fire, watching the snow for a long time, until night falls and their glasses are empty.

“You hungry? I can make us something t’eat.”

“Starving,” Harry says, pushing his lower lip out to think.

“Put some more wood on the fire, I’ll see what he left us to eat.”

Niall pulls his t-shirt on and Harry enjoys the view of his ass as he walks away. He stands, pulling two big logs from the pile and tossing them onto the fire. After finishing his drinks, he pours two more for each of them, and sits on the comforter just as Niall walks back into the room.

“Found some cheese and grapes, sliced an apple. Oh, and there’s some veg.” Harry grabs a carrot and chews slowly. “We’ll have something better tomorrow night.”

Harry leans in to kiss Niall, “this is perfect.”

Niall puts some cheese on a cracker and takes the drink Harry hands him. “What’s your deal with the decorations? He said not to move them. You better put it back before we go to bed.”

“Do you want that little perv watchin us? I don’t think I can uhm, you know, not with him watching us with that creepy grin on his face.” Harry shivers dramatically to show it gives him the heebie jeebies and Niall laughs.

“You’re crazy.”

“Maybe,” Harry agrees, popping a grape in his mouth. Standing, he walks to the windows and closes the heavy drapes.

“Why you doin that?”

“Fuck knows who else is out there tryin t’watch us.”

“I’m starting t’think you want t’be watched,” Niall teases him.

“Only by you, now c’mere,” Harry says, pulling Niall on top of him. “S’your turn,” he slurs happily.

Niall rolls one of Harry’s nipples between his thumb and forefinger. “Tell me what you want,”

Harry gets on his hands and knees, presenting himself to Niall. “I want that Irish cock,” Harry laughs.

Niall positions himself behind Harry, sliding a hand over his back and causing it to arch. “This is the way I like you, baby,” Niall’s voice is deep with lust and desire. His palm caresses Harry’s ass and he leans down, biting into the smooth firm skin. Stretching over Harry’s back, Niall’s teeth find his ear lobe. “Want me to be your back door Santa?”

“Fuck Niall!” Harry pushes against him and Niall laughs softly. Harry loves this side of Niall. He’s the only one who gets to see it and it sends him into overdrive every time.

Niall slides a hand between Harry’s legs, teasing over his balls and perineum until he reaches his hole. Harry pushes against the finger and Niall spreads his cheeks, licking a long slow strip up to Harry’s tight little pucker. He licks over it and earns a moan from Harry.

“Niall,” Harry begs and closes his eyes. He feels Niall’s cock against him, hears the sound of the lube opening. Niall rubs it over him and presses against Harry, slowly breaching the muscle.

“This what you want baby?”

“Yes,” Harry sighs as he feels Niall push further into him. Niall leans over his back, the hair from his chest tickling Harry. Fingers tangle in the hair at the nape of his neck and pull his head back. Hot breath fans over his ear.

“So tight,” Niall whispers.

“Please,” Harry begs and Niall thrusts into him harder, reaching around for him.

“You’re so hard for me, baby, can you cum?”

A thumb slides over the tip of his cock and slides back down his shaft. It’s almost more sensation than he can bear. “Niall!” Harry cries out, arching into his lover as his orgasm sends him over the edge. He feels teeth bite into his shoulder just as Niall cums deep inside him. Harry’s arms give way, and they drop onto the duvet, breathing hard.

“You okay baby?”

“Better than okay,” Harry sighs and feels Niall’s lips kissing over his shoulder just as he pulls out and lays beside him. Harry rests his head on Niall’s chest and holds him tightly. The sex and the drink have made him absolutely spent and he just wants to lay here in Niall’s arms.

“Ya wanna go t’bed?”

“Can we just stay here?”

“Let me put that food away and some more wood on the fire then we’ll settle in.”

Harry’s already dozing when he hears Niall throw more wood on and settle onto the duvet next to him. “I love you.”

Harry puckers his lips for a kiss and murmurs, “love you too.”

~~

Harry doesn’t know what time it is when he wakes. The fire has died down and he needs a wee. Like right now. Extricating himself from Niall’s embrace, he stands, trying to remember where the loo is in this place. Knowing there’s one in their bedroom, he heads that direction. Light is coming through the windows by the front door and he almost pisses all over himself when he sees a face in the window.

“Fuck!” he yells, jumping back, hands flying up to cover his dick. He stares back at the man whose hands form a shield around his eyes as he peers through the glass into the dark entryway. When he sees Harry, he waves but quickly realizes he’s waving at a naked man.

“Harry? What’s happened?”

“Nothing, stay there, alright? I’ll be right back.” Harry holds up a finger to tell the man to wait, still trying to hide his dick with just the one hand and rushes back to the bedroom. He still needs a wee, so he takes care of that first, then finds a pair of joggers and pulls them on. Pulling a pair out of Niall’s suitcase for him, he walks back to the front door to find the man still standing there.

“Can I help you?” Harry says through the glass. This place is creepy enough, he’s not about to open the door to a possible axe murderer.

“I’m the plumber, came t’check on the pipes. Let me in, it’s fuckin freezing out here!”

“Hang on,” Harry tells him and walks over to where Niall is still snuggled under the duvet. “Niall,” he hisses.

“What?”

“Here,” Harry drops the joggers on top of him. “Get dressed. Company’s come callin here at Murder Mansion.”

“What da fuck are ya talkin bout?” Harry smiles. Niall’s Irish accent is always a little more pronounced when he’s grumpy.

“Just get dressed, will ya? The plumber’s here.”

Harry strides back to the front door and opens it, cringing at the creak it makes.

“Mornin mate, I’m Louis, the plumber.”

“What makes ya think our pipes need checkin?”

“It’s an old house. We had to do a shit ton of work on this place t’make it habitable. This is the first big snow, I wanna make sure nothing bursts while Mr. Payne is gone. I’m not having that on me head. Go make us some coffee while I check things out.”

At that minute Niall appears and stands behind Harry. “Who’s this?”

“This is Louis, he’s the plumber.”

“Nice t’meet ya mate,” he smiles, looking between Harry and Niall. “havin it off in front of the fire, did ya? Everybody does,” he laughs and heads toward the kitchen. Niall and Harry follow him and watch as he opens a door and heads down some steps.

“Follow him,” Niall tells Harry.

“Fuck no, I’m not gonna let him lure me down there so he can murder me.”

Niall crosses the kitchen and fills the coffeemaker with water, turning it on to brew. “What is your obsession with being murdered? You’ve read too many damn mysteries.”

Harry’s still staring through the doorway that obviously leads to a basement of some sort when he sees it. The elf is on the cabinet, leaning against some cookbooks and staring at him with that evil grin. “Damn it!” he mutters before walking over and shoving it into a cabinet.

“Harry stop it! He told us not to fuck with the decorations. Here, sit down and have some coffee.” Harry takes the mug from Niall’s hands and sits. The chair is cold against his bare back, but he doesn’t stop staring at the open door. He’s not sure what he’ll do if the man comes running up the stairs with an axe. Throw coffee in his face, he reckons.

Niall is busy pulling food from the fridge and starting breakfast. Fifteen minutes later when Louis emerges from the basement, the kitchen is warm and toasty. “Damn that smells good,” he remarks as he shuts the door.

“Join us for breakfast,” Niall offers.

“You sure?”

“Course, here, have a seat at the table with Harry. Want some coffee?”

“Coffee would be brilliant.”

Niall brings a mug to their new acquaintance and places it in front of him. “So, you helped restore this house? How bad was it when you started?”

“When Mr. Payne bought it, the village was ready to have it torn down. There were so many back taxes owed on it. He came in, paid it all up and began hiring locals to work on it. I replaced all the pipes and redid the plumbing, put in a sprinkler system t’help keep the garden green and that silly maze growin.”

“Why was it in such bad shape? Didn’t the owners live here?”

“You haven’t heard?

“heard what?” Harry stands and grabs the coffee carafe, bringing it to the table and refilling their cups. He pours one for Niall and helps carry the breakfast dishes to the table.

“He died,” Louis tells them, taking a bite of toast.

“He what?” Harry glares at Niall, knowing he’s been right about this place all along. Did he learn nothing from watching The Shining? Stay away from houses with mazes.

“He was ninety-seven. Poor lad went t’bed one night and didn’t wake up,” Louis crosses himself before cutting into a sausage. Harry sees Niall grinning at him and sticks out his tongue. “You two married or summat?”

“Yes,” Harry answers.

“And you just go around stayin in people’s houses?”

“Sort of,” Niall tells him. “Mr. Payne hired us through an agency. A lot of our other clients are repeat bookings. They just call us direct. We both work from home, so it doesn’t really matter where we are as long as we have internet.”

“That’s a bit dodgy round here. What d’you do that you can work from home?”

“Well, we’re both on holiday ‘til after the new year so it’s okay. Harry works for an insurance company and I’m a programmer, I create computer games.”

“Sounds fancy. Well, that was tasty, mate. Thanks for sharin with me. I gotta be on me way. Come down t’the pub tonight and I’ll buy you a pint,” he tells Niall. Looking over at Harry he says, “you can buy your own for that axe murderer shit.” He laughs and heads for the back door. “I’ll be back in a day or two if ya don’t mind. This old place will be a bitch if I have t’start tearin out pipes again.”

“Sorry about callin you an axe murderer. I’m a bit jumpy,” Harry explains.

“I’ll say, but hey, at least your cock’s big enough it takes two hands t’hide it,” he laughs as he walks out the door. They hear him whistling as he walks away and Harry shoves Niall playfully.

“He saw you naked?”

“I got up for a wee,” Harry says loudly over the sound of Niall’s wheezing laugh. If he didn’t love that laugh so much, he might punch him right now. “I told you people would be lookin in the windows of this place, didn’t I?”

“He must’ve liked what he saw,” Niall says, standing and putting his arms around Harry’s neck. “Just don’t you go chasin after him, now. You’re spoken for,” Niall says, kissing Harry’s cheek. “Come on, let’s get cleaned up and check out that maze.”

Harry cleans the kitchen while Niall showers and then takes his turn, putting on an orange jumper and jeans. He considers long underwear, but Niall teases him enough without adding that to the list. He takes some time and hangs his clothes in the empty closet. It’s only jeans and jumpers, a couple pairs of joggers, but he likes his clothes to look good. He hangs Niall’s clothes too and leaves to find him sitting in front of the fire.

“Ready?”

In the mudroom, they slip into wellies and put on their coats. “Make sure you’ve got your cell phone,” Harry tells Niall.

“You afraid you’ll lose me?”

“Maybe,” Harry admits.

“Can we even get a signal out here?”

Harry checks his phone, there’s one bar. It’s not much, but he’ll take it. They trudge through the snow toward the maze. There’s a plaque on a pedestal outside the entry displaying an overhead view of the maze. Harry snaps a quick picture of it and shoves his phone back in his pocket.

“Cheater,” Niall tells him and steps into the maze. It’s unnerving inside, not at all like he thought it would be. The hedges are at least ten feet tall, absolutely no way to see over them. He feels Niall grab his hand and pull him along behind him. He loves how fearless Niall is.

“You okay?”

“So far, I’ll let ya know if me claustrophobia starts comin on.”

Niall squeezes Harry’s hand as he leads him down rows that dead end, causing them to turn back again. They make a right which seems to lead them almost to the other end of the maze only to have to turn back again. Halfway back, Niall pulls Harry to the left and they head down another row. When Harry feels a snowflake hit his nose, he stops and looks up, not realizing Niall didn’t. When he looks back down, no one is there.

“Niall!”

“Harry, where are you?”

“Backtrack your steps. Im in the same spot we were in.”

They call out to one another a few more minutes until Niall finds his way back. It’s snowing harder now and when he kisses Harry, smiling up at him, Harry brushes snow from his hair. “We should find our way out of here. It’ll start getting dark soon with this snow.”

“You alright?”

“Yeah, I just don’t wanna be lost in this fucking maze in the dark.”

“Let’s go back to the house, we’ll warm up and walk into the village. Have a pint with Louis and have dinner out tonight, yeah?”

Harry follows Niall warily, clutching his phone, ready to pull out the map if necessary. Just as they round a corner and stumble out of the maze, they see a bench sitting under a tree. There on the bench sits one of the creepy elves.

“Damn it, Niall. Did you do that?” Harry stops, breathing heavily from the shock.

Niall pulls off his gloves and places his hands on Harry’s face. “Hey, look at me. No, why would I do that to you? It’s probably all part of the decorations this guy had done. Come on, let’s go inside and I’ll make ya an Irish coffee then we’ll go t’the pub.”

Harry stands in front of the fireplace while Niall makes Irish coffee for them. They sit on the sofa and Harry slips his arm around Niall’s shoulders, turning his body to face him. “I’m sorry I’ve been so jumpy. This place is doin my head in.”

“Are you going to last? If you want me t’call him and tell him we’ve had an emergency, I will. He can get that fella Louis t’come stay here. Not sure why he didn’t hire him anyway, he’s so worried about the pipes.”

Harry kisses Niall’s forehead. “I’ll be okay. They’re just dolls, right?”

“Right,” Niall assures him.

~~

The interior of the pub is dark and after the bright white of the snow-covered village, it takes a moment for their eyes to adjust. It’s warm and toasty and Harry can smell some kind of food cooking. Spying a table off to the right, Harry sends Niall to grab it while he orders a Guinness for Niall and a tequila on the rocks for himself.

“This is nice,” he says, hanging his coat over his chair and looking around. A hush falls over the room and he can feel eyes on them. He frowns at Niall, growing wary as the tension in the room mounts.

“Relax,” Niall soothes him. “They don’t know us. It’ll be fine when Louis gets here.” Minutes later the door flies open and Louis breezes in. He’s at the bar ordering when he looks over to see Niall and Harry.

“Look who’s here, hey mates,” he says and nods his head in the direction of their table. The bartender pours two more rounds and Louis carries all three drinks to the table. “How’s it going scaredy cat?”

Niall snorts and Harry glares at Louis. “Easy mate, I’m teasin. S’all good,” he says and takes a sip of his beer. “I reckon I owe ya that one after callin me an axe murderer this mornin.” Harry smiles and concedes that they’re even now.

“Nice place, this. How long have you lived here?”

“All me life. Dad was a plumber and his dad before him. I wasn’t much interested in it, but people do pay me buckets of money t’stick m’hands down their shitter.” At this Harry slides his napkin around the glass that Louis set in front of him and dips it into the tequila. The alcohol will kill any germs from his hands, right?

“Ouch,” he blurts when Niall kicks him under the table.

“S’wrong with ya,” Louis asks him.

“Nothing, old ballet injury. Flares up in cold weather,” he explains, wadding up the napkin and sticking it in his pocket. He shrugs when he catches Niall shaking his head and laughing at his terrible attempt at lying.

“I figure five more years and I’m retiring.”

“Retiring? You can’t be more than what? Thirty?”

“Wait til I tell me missus that,” he laughs. “I’m thirty-five. Gonna retire at forty and move somewhere tropical. Get away from all this cold weather. You should think about that too,” he says, nudging Harry in the elbow. “What with your ballet injury and all.”

“You watch much football, Lou?” Harry can see Niall’s trying to change the subject and he sends up a silent prayer to the universe that Louis says yes.

“Yep, love it.”

“I’ll get us more drinks,” Harry says and heads to the bar. He has no interest in football and is happy to leave Niall and Louis to it.

“Same again?”

“Please,” Harry says and smiles at the bartender.

“So, you and your partner are lookin after the Payne place while he’s gone?”

Realizing Louis must’ve told him Harry says, “yes, we’ll be here another week or so.”

“Lou says you’re a jumpy one. Not used to the country?”

“I grew up in a village not too far from here, Holmes Chapel. I know all about country life,” Harry tells him.

The man snorts, “where all the rich businessmen from Manchester live, okay country boy,” he laughs under his breath and sets the drinks in front of Harry. Did he miss something? When did he become everyone’s punching bag?

“Thanks, mate.”

“Yep,” the man acknowledges him and heads to the other end of the bar. Harry walks slowly back to the table. Maybe there’s another place he and Niall can go for dinner and get out of here. No more Louis and his talk of shitters.

“So Lou, where’s a good place to eat around here?”

“Pub does an edible sausage-n- mash or there’s an Indian takeaway place up the street. They’ve got a decent curry. ‘Scuse me gents,” he says, standing with his drink. “That’s my missus just walked in. You fellas have a nice night. I’ll be out in a day or two to check on the pipes again.”

Standing by the door is a slim girl with long brunette hair. She’s pretty with large dark eyes and when Louis takes her in his arms to kiss her, her smile lights up her face.

“Nice couple,” Niall comments and Harry agrees. Retiring at forty. Looking down at his hands he considers whether he should’ve been a plumber. “Don’t even think about it,” Niall’s voice pierces his thoughts. “You’d hate it. Besides, we’re not doing too badly. You said not long ago we should be able to retire in ten more years.”

“That’s if we stay in London. We could probably retire sooner if we moved somewhere less expensive.”

“You saying you wanna move to the country?”

“I’d consider it, as long as we can go to London occasionally.”

Niall reaches across the table and squeezes his hand. “Let’s go get a curry and head back t’the house.”

They drain their glasses and return them to the bar, saying goodnight. After getting their food, they walk back to the house. The snow has stopped for the minute but while waiting for the curry, Harry heard the forecast say more was expected overnight. Maybe they can just hole up in that creepy old place for the next week and stay in bed. Lock the bedroom door so those pervy little dolls stay away from them.

“What’re you thinkin about?” Niall asks the question as Harry pushes the key into the lock. After turning it, he faces Niall and kisses him.

“You and how I’d like to hole up in that big bed in there with you for the next week and forget about the world.”

Niall kisses him back. “That could be arranged, ya know,” he says. “Go get in bed and I’ll warm up our food. We’ll eat and watch a Christmas film. I know you like those.”

Harry reaches for Niall again, kissing him as they walk through the door, kicking it shut behind them. He reaches for the lights and when he flips the switch, he hears “Surprise!”

Whirling around, Harry sees several of their London friends, his mum, sister and her partner, even his grandfather is sitting in a chair by the fire. Niall’s parents are next to his mum and his cousins are standing by the drinks table. Mr. Payne and Louis and his wife are there too.

“What?” Harry looks at Niall. “What have you done?”

“Happy Anniversary, Harry. Nine years ago tonight we met in a pub in Camden, do you remember? I’ve been grateful every day since to have you in my life and I wanted to celebrate it with all our family and friends. I rented this estate for the holidays. We’ll all have Christmas here tomorrow and then you and I can spend the rest of our holiday together.”

Harry looks at his partner and his heart swells with love. “I can’t believe you did all this. Wait, are you the one that kept putting those damn dolls all over the place?”

Niall laughs and shakes his head. “That was Louis and Liam. We had t’keep you occupied and not pokin your nose into stuff,” he admits.

“I played a pretty convincing axe murderer,” Louis yells from the other side of the room, chest puffed out with pride at helping to pull off the surprise. “I’m the one who put the wee elf in the maze for ya.”

“Take them all with you when you leave tonight,” Harry laughs and kisses Niall. “Thank you. For bringing our families together and remembering the night we met but most of all for loving me.” With his arm around Niall’s shoulder, they circle the room, hugging family and making sure everyone has drinks. To Harry’s surprise, there’s a huge buffet set up in the dining room and everyone grabs a plate.

“So wait,” Harry says as Liam walks up to them. “What’s Mr. Payne’s role in all of this?”

“Liam is the caterer. He was here cooking all day before we arrived. He came back to the house to meet our families and help get all this set up.” Liam is grinning from ear to ear and Harry hugs him. “Thank you. This is wonderful.”

“Couldn’t have done it without my partner,” Liam says gesturing to Louis.

“You mean you’re not a plumber?”

“Oh no, I am a plumber. Liam and I also manage the estate, he does the admin and I keep everything working. When your partner here booked it for the holidays, El came over and put all the decorations out,” Louis says, gesturing to his wife. Harry hugs him tightly. “Get off me ya big oaf,” Louis complains, wiggling out of Harry’s grip. There’s a smile on his face and and it’s evident he’s enjoying the attention.

“Thank you all.”

“Our pleasure mate,” Louis smiles and claps him on the shoulder. “Now ‘scuse me gents, I need some of Liam’s feast over there.”

Harry and Niall watch their family and friends make their way through the buffet and find places to sit. They visit with Harry’s grandfather for a few minutes before he pulls Niall through the kitchen and out the back door. Wrapping his arms around him, he pulls him close and kisses him.

“Thank you,” Harry whispers.

“Happy Christmas and Happy Anniversary, baby. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Harry says and kisses him again. “Just promise me when I take you to bed tonight there won’t be one of those pervy little elves staring at me.

“I promise,” Niall laughs and kisses him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading. Hope you all have a safe and happy holiday season. Happy Narrydays xoxo


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